


The Riddle of the Shoemaker

by i_owe_you_a_bourbon



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2015-04-26
Packaged: 2018-03-25 21:56:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3826444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_owe_you_a_bourbon/pseuds/i_owe_you_a_bourbon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“This town really isn’t an endorsement for the sanctity of marriage,” Sousa said finally. “The shoemaker seems to be having an affair too.”</p>
<p>Peggy let out a frustrated sigh. “He is,” she said. “But I can’t for the life of me figure out with whom.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Riddle of the Shoemaker

The day was warm, the flowers were in full bloom, the bees were buzzing lazily, and Sousa was annoyed. He lay stretched out amidst a bush, twigs poking him in all the sensitive parts of his body, including some areas he’d never known were so sensitive until today. To make matters worse, the bush did little to block out the sun, which was beating down upon his sweater vest and transforming it into a very sweaty vest.

He shot a glance to his left. Peggy was propped up on her elbows beside him, peering intently through her binoculars. The two of them were positioned at the crest of a hill, looking down over the busiest street that could be found in this small town that Sousa had never even heard of. Chief Phillips – finally caving to Peggy’s hounding – had given them this most glorious of assignments. Track a man suspected of espionage. Report upon his movements. And as of yet, his movements had consisted of driving to a nowhere town, disappearing inside a bar, and staying there as the day wore on. With a sigh, Sousa focused his eyes through his own pair of binoculars, fixing his gaze back on the bar.

“That was quite a sigh, Daniel,” said Peggy, glancing over at him. “Something the matter?”

“It’s just so typical,” Sousa muttered. “New chief and the gimp and the lady are back to the nothing assignments.”

“Oh, don’t be so glum,” Peggy chided cheerily. “This assignment is of vital important. They’ll be _lost_ without our findings.” She made a face and aggressively squirmed into a different position in order to remove a twig that was prodding into her side. “It’s perhaps not _glamorous_ ,” she conceded. “But it’s something, and something is always better than nothing.” She peered through her binoculars again. “Besides, it gives us ample opportunity for people-watching.”

“Yeah,” said Sousa, staring down at the street below them. “I’m learning that people in this town are as bored by it as I am.”

“Well the butcher’s wife certainly isn’t bored,” said Peggy. “The innkeeper’s been seeing to that.”

“Jeez, you really have been people-watching,” Sousa said, shooting her an impressed look.

“I’ve made something of an art of it. When you’re constantly shunted to the side-lines it’s often the only thing keeping you from going utterly mad.” She gave him a slight smile, tinged with enough sadness to make Sousa’s heart hurt.

“I do know a little something about that,” he told her. “I generally just let it drive me up the wall though.”

“In that case, I strongly recommend people-watching, Agent Sousa. It would be a sore loss to this world if such a fine agent were to lose his wits entirely.”

“How can I refuse something so highly recommended?” Sousa said, focusing his attention through his binoculars again. The two of them studied the scene below them for a moment in silence. “This town really isn’t an endorsement for the sanctity of marriage,” Sousa said finally. “The shoemaker seems to be having an affair too.”

Peggy let out a frustrated sigh. “He _is_ ,” she said. “But I can’t for the life of me figure out with whom.”

“That blonde with the feather in her hat?” Sousa suggested.

“She is one in a frankly rather alarming number of candidates.”

Sousa examined the situation for a moment longer. “The butcher’s daughter, it has to be.”

“Possibly,” said Peggy, sounding unconvinced. “But once again, I have no concrete evidence.” She shot a sideways look at her companion. “Perhaps we can inquire when we go to arrest the man we’ve been tailing.”

Sousa glanced at her in surprise. “What?” he said.

“The fellow is certainly up to something, whether it be espionage or something equally nefarious. And nowhere in our mission parameters were we told we were _not_ to bring him in.”

Sousa glanced back through his binoculars towards the bar. He couldn’t see anything untoward taking place, but he trusted Peggy to know what she was talking about. “You managed to figure that out while doing all your people-watching?” he asked.

“Multi-tasking happens to be a forte of mine,” Peggy said, flashing him a radiant smile.

He smiled back. “I guess it’s up to us to do something about it then,” he said.

“My thoughts exactly, agent.” She peered through her binoculars. “I do wish we could unravel the puzzle of the shoemaker before we have to depart though.”

“Me too,” said Sousa, joining her in her examination of the man’s perplexing life. “I’ll consider this the ultimate failure of my career if I can’t figure it out.” The two of them studied the situation intently for a few moments in companionable silence.

“Well, I am stumped,” Peggy declared finally, setting her binoculars down with a sigh.

“Not as stumped as me,” Sousa grumbled, rubbing his leg. The cool, damp ground did nothing for his level of comfort. But he couldn’t help but smile at the laugh he startled out of Peggy.


End file.
